Journalism of Courage
CBI special judge D R Mahajan on Monday convicted a junior engineer (civil),Dattatraya Borawake (42),in the office of Assistant Garrison Engineer,Dehu Road,for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 52,000 from a contractor and accepting Rs 15,000 of the amount,in 2009.
The CBI court sentenced Borawake to two-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined him Rs 10,000 or six-month RI under Section 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act. The court also sentenced him to one-year RI or Rs 5,000 fine under Section seven of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Contractor Suresh Chetwani of M/s Chetwani Constructions had registered a complaint in this regard. According to the prosecution,Chetwani had won two tenders floated by Garrison Engineer,Dehu Road one worth Rs 10 lakh and the other of Rs 11 lakh. Chetwani completed the first work amounting to Rs 8 lakh. The bill was cleared in three stages.
After receving the last instalment of Rs 75,000,Borawake asked Chetwani to pay him Rs 52,000 as bribe and threatened him that he would not clear the bill for the second work if the amount was not paid. Chetwani lodged a written complaint with the CBI-Anti Corruption Bureau in Pune on September 24,2009. A trap was laid by CBI officers and Chetwani was caught red-handed accepting Rs 16,500. Borawakes lawyer Sudhir Shah,however,said he was falsely implicated by planting the money in his drawer.
The defence lawyer argued that some leniency must be shown as his wife,two daughters and a son are dependent on him.
